Silly samplings from this week’s science news. Welcome to the periodic table, livermorium and flerovium. You both sound delicious. [Christian Science Monitor] Mundane objects owned by chemistry superstars – Royal Society’s archives include Dmitri Mendeleev’s business cards and Ernest Rutherford’s potato masher. [Guardian] The Grinch appears to be at work as “Once Upon A Christmas Cheery in the Lab of Shakhashiri” is cancelled...

‘Twas just before Sci-Mix, and all through Hall B, plenty of creatures were stirring, some of them dressed like a mouse called Minnie. Alright, alright … I need to work on my poetry skills. But you get the idea. Just before Sci-Mix kicked off tonight in Anaheim, chemists gathered in Hall B of the convention center to do the Chemistry Dance (Note that they did this BEFORE having beer at the poster session). Celebrating the...

Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron skipped the opening ceremonies for the International Year of Chemistry in Philly, Paris and London, but props go to Germany’s head of state, Angela Merkel–formerly a theoretical physicist/chemist herself–for showing up at the IYC shindig here in Berlin today. She said some things we’ve heard before, such as how chemists could help solve energy problems (with, say, nanotechnology) and...

About the Safety Zone

The Safety Zone covers chemical safety issues in academic and industrial research labs and in manufacturing. It is intended to be a forum for exchange and discussion of lab and plant safety and accident information without the fanfare of a news article.